Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness. —Pearl S. Buck
I read a book by Keith Stuart titled We Were Wrong. His church became known for pulling out a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News with the same headline. In the ad, Keith’s church apologized for the type of church they once were. Can you imagine? What happened?
On a trip overseas, this pastor visited a slum and met a 19-year-old entrepreneur. This boy figured out how to make money with a power strip and various cell phone adapters. People would pay to use his power. It was so successful that this young man mentored another slum kid into the business.
Keith was floored. If he were the young entrepreneur, he wouldn’t be sharing trade secrets. He left the slum plagued by the question: who was poor—the boy in the slum or himself?
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid …’ (Hebrews 13:5-6)
The word content means content. Today, always, and forever, see Jesus as enough. It’s a beautiful way of living. When we stop striving for more, we can rest in what we’ve been given—Jesus.
If we want to live as people of grace in an ever-changing society, the secret is this: We live in an ever-changing culture by clinging to our never-changing Jesus.
I don’t need to make enemies by blasting others with what I know to be true. Rather, I can share Jesus with them—the greatest wealth in the world—in the same way the entrepreneur mentored his apprentice in the riches of slum-business.
When we love by sacrifice, when we welcome those who are different or even invisible, when we esteem relationships, and when we stop striving for more—the church will become the most attractive community on the planet. And this is the life of grace. Magnetic, darkness-dispelling grace.
Jesus, shine through me. Let the light never flicker, so that all those who see may know Your unchanging and unwavering nature. Amen.